


Recompense

by RhetoricFemme



Series: Scenic World AU [6]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Character building, Gen, Jean and Reiner are epic nerds, Scenic World AU, world building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-23
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2019-04-26 17:45:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14407239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RhetoricFemme/pseuds/RhetoricFemme
Summary: When Marco hears a whole lot of banging around coming from the kitchen, it's only natural that he'd want to investigate. What he finds is Jean and Reiner.Somehow, it's always Jean and Reiner.





	Recompense

**Author's Note:**

> I don't think I'll ever get past the concept of Jean and Reiner as brothers, much less the thought of them engaging in sibling antics. :)
> 
> This is just another world-building side piece, which I wrote to accompany [the amazing art](http://rhetoricfemme.tumblr.com/post/173217340618/okay-i-dont-have-brothers-so-i-might-not-be-the) I was fortunate enough to commission from [Jizart](http://jizart.tumblr.com/). And I should also mention, that it was [Watergirl1968](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Watergirl1968/pseuds/Watergirl1968) who planted this image in my head, for which I am eternally grateful. <3

It’s not the noise downstairs that alarms Marco, so much as the abrupt end of it. A good five minutes now, he’s been getting bits and pieces of Reiner and Jean’s raised voices going back and forth. A sibling’s quarrel if there ever was one. While Marco can’t quite make out the words, Jean’s defiant inflection is quite clear, as is the matter-of-fact irritation of Reiner’s voice.

A minute passes, and it seems that all banter has ceased, and it causes Marco’s curiosity to pique all over again. It’s enough to warrant a trip downstairs, he decides, and upon reaching the kitchen the sight in front of him does not disappoint.

In front of him, Jean lays sprawled across the kitchen floor, looking every bit as ornery as Reiner had previously sounded.

Which makes sense, considering that Reiner now sits on top of him.

It’s a sight to see, mostly because Marco has never really seen anything like it.

An only child who had never been particularly close to the few cousins he has, Reiner and Jean’s rapport offers insight into an aspect of life Marco never really had. On top of that, they can typically be counted upon as a cure for boredom.

“Okay. I don’t have brothers so I might not be the best judge of this situation, but…” Marco takes a look at the ire etched across Jean’s face, and can’t help but say something. “But I’m pretty sure that Jean doesn’t seem to like that.”

Reiner nods proudly in confirmation, answering Marco while looking at Jean. “He shouldn’t have eaten my chicken then, huh?”

Jean winces when the back door opens, consequently causing him to be hit in the face with a blast of cold air that whips past the exposed entryway. Marco is the only one who looks, however, when Bertholt steps into the room.

“Not this again…” Bertholt steps easily over his brothers, giving Marco a pat on the back as he makes his way toward the living room. He can’t help but imagine that Bertholt has encountered this same predicament a thousand times over.

“Don’t worry, Marco.” Reiner assures him. His mouth is twisted into a wicked, albeit not unpleasant smile. “Every now and then he just needs taste of submission. _Right_ , Jeanbo?”

 

                                                                             

Jean’s face begins to redden at that, and Reiner cannot help but laugh when Jean’s body tenses a little beneath him.

“I hate you.”

And that’s it. Reiner relents with deep, throaty laughter, and he ruffles Jean’s hair while offering a hand to help him back up. Jean accepts it without hesitation, obliging Reiner when he pulls him into a hug.

A little light humiliation is apparently nothing between them, though Marco can’t help but read into the possibilities surrounding everything Reiner had said.

Marco watches them, fascinated at the intricacy and forgiveness that make up Jean and Reiner’s dynamic. It’s not quite over yet, though. Marco’s eyes follow Jean when he moves to open the refrigerator door, where he retrieves a brand new carton of eggs.

“I’m going back home. I let you torture me cause I got caught stealing your chicken.” Jean says plainly, holding the eggs up for Reiner to see. “But I’m taking these with me because you, brother, are an asshole.”

Reiner stares at Jean, his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed in consideration.

“Fair enough.”

Jean is already halfway out the door when Reiner spouts off something about taking the eggs and going in peace. Jean mutters something about how he’d have taken them, anyway.

Reiner’s on his way out of the kitchen as soon as Jean closes the back door, shaking his head in laughter along the way.

And just like that, Marco finds himself alone again with the quiet. A solitary individual caught somewhere in the orbit of three very likeable brothers that he’s come to have difficulty imagining life without.

He’s at risk of getting lost in his thoughts, standing by himself in the suddenly empty kitchen, when he hears his name being called out of nowhere.

It’s Jean.

It can’t be more than forty-five degrees outside. That doesn’t prevent Jean from calling to him from the kitchen window, where Marco rushes toward now.

“Whatcha need, Jean?”

Despite himself, Marco’s heart catches in his chest. Just a bit.

Standing on the other side of the window is Jean; hands jammed into his pockets, a carton of eggs tucked beneath one arm, and an innocent, albeit devastating smile across his face.

“Just sayin’ good night.”

 _Oh_.

Marco nods at him, can feel his own face begin to flush.

“Good night, Jean.”

“G’night, Marco.”


End file.
